Their Imperfect Love Story
by Airplanes.or.shooting.stars
Summary: We coped in our own ways after the war; Ron found his release in quidditch, Harry found solitude with the Weasleys, and I? Well I ran straight into the arms of Draco Malfoy. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Rating:**M for mature themes

**Pairing:** Hermione/Draco

The first chapter of a two-shot. The first is Hermione's POV and the second will be Draco's. I hope you enjoy it- please review!

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**Hermione's POV**

The story of Draco and me? Really, there's not a lot to tell.

Sometimes I get strange looks in the streets. People recognise me or my friends or my family, they come over and shake my hand and hug me and thank me for everything. It takes me by surprise every time. Before, I never thought about the future, it was too risky to think of living, we lived in the moment. Now everything is different.

The wizarding world never really learned what we went through. They loved to paste our pictures on the front page of magazines or hang around our front doors for quick interviews. In the end, I think that's what tore apart our friendship. The media is a powerful weapon, the words of one can affect the lives of many. Rumours, stupid stupid rumours is what drove me, Harry and Ron to the edge.

We coped in our own ways; Ron found his release in quidditch, Harry found solitude with the Weasleys, and I? Well I ran straight into the arms of Draco Malfoy.

At first, it was what everyone thought it was, A mindless, physical need. Just sex, no talking, no feelings and even no kissing to a certain extent. It was an escape from reality for just a little while. Yes, it was a shock, I think at first it even shocked me a bit. The swottish brains of the golden trio shagging a death eater's son? Impossible. But it was new and exciting and so damn good that I couldn't stop.

I think the thing that made me want Draco of all people is our history. He was the bully, the one who made me feel small. I wanted someone familiar, but not someone close to me, who would accept what I gave them and give exactly the same back.

Of course it helped that Draco was gorgeous.

I don't think I realised I was in love until we actually had dinner together. Our normal agreement was simple- meet in a hotel, have sex, go home. It was safe and it was easy, but honestly, it was also awkward and uncertain. We never talked. You know, really talked. We just did what we had to do and then left.

He had to convince me to go out with him. I didn't want anything to change, I quite liked our little arrangement. Draco was becoming the only constant thing in my life and I didn't want that to be ruined by a stupid date.

Of course the dinner was perfect. Draco seemed to have done everything possible to make it as relaxed and quiet as possible, I suppose he didn't want to scare me away. The restaurant was empty and there was soft music, and he told me I was beautiful. Well that caught me off guard. I could see he'd made a real effort, so I of course did the same.

Draco really did surprise me. Our conversation flowed, we discussed, chatted and even debated- it was a side to Draco I'd never seen before.

We didn't have sex that night, but I did get a small kiss goodbye. It was shy and different and wonderful and was a promise of more dates to come.

Harry and Ron barely talked to me when I told them about us. Of course I didn't say how our relationship had started, but they still weren't pleased. Well, Draco and I still saw each other properly after that. A few months later he had all but moved in with me and by the time our one-year anniversary arrived he had proposed. I guess Harry and Ron realised that this was serious, and we slowly started our friendship again. It was surprisingly easy to drift back into our old ways- a friendship like ours is too hard to be broken beyond repair.

When Draco and I became a serious couple the newspapers began to swarm again. This time though, it didn't bother me as much. I had used Draco as an escape before, but this time, he was what brought me back to reality. The media died down when they realised that we weren't a couple that would be seen having shouting matches in the middle of Diagon Alley, or snogging in a secluded corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Actually we were very private, we saved our arguments- and there were many arguments- to the privacy of our home and kept our making up sessions there as well.

I think what shocked me the most, and what still shocks me really, is how well Draco understands me. He knows when to leave me to my work but knows the right moment to drag me out of my office for a well deserved break, he knows when I need to be left alone to fume but also when he needs to make me understand his point. He can calm me down and then rile me up again in an instant, makes me challenge my perception and makes me smile with the tiniest of gestures.

We balance each other well, he is tall and fair while I'm small and dark, he is calm while I am frantic, I am organised and he is relaxed. We have opposing views on almost everything under the sun, but when it's something important we make an unstoppable team.

Sometime's those people on the street ask me if I would have changed anything about the past. Before, I would have said I would change everything. Now, I don't think I would.

I know our story isn't one of whirl-wind romance or knights in shining armour, but I don't think I could imagine anything else for us. Our love story wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't perfect, but it was perfect for us.

I'm still stopped by the people on the streets, the ones who stop me and shake my hand. They take me by surprise every time.

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**A/N: **I really hoped you liked it, if you did please review! I think Draco's chapter may be a little but different but let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

The story of me and Hermione? There's not a lot to say

Sometimes I get strange looks in the streets. People will recognise me or my friends or my family. They don't come and shake my hand or thank me for my effort in the war, they cross to the other side of the road, hurry their children along, even shout abuse. It takes me by surprise every time. I changed during the war: I couldn't cope with being a slave to a crazy tyrant. It was selfish, but I went to the Order of the Phoenix to save myself, to make sure I survived. Before, I never thought about the future, it was too risky. I was questioned and used as a spy and I had to live in the moment. Now everything is different.

The wizarding world never really learned what I went through. They pasted my picture on the front of magazines and newspapers, some condemning me as a traitor and others making me a hero. No one knew what to believe. I wasn't the only one who was changed by the media, everyone who was involved was hunted down, interviewed, given status as a star or a coward. It was enough to drive anyone to the edge.

When Hermione first came to me, I thought it was a sick sort of joke. I mean, I knew that the trio had grown apart, but for her to come to me of all people? I didn't understand. It turns out Harry had isolated himself with the Weasley's, eating every meal with them, sleeping at the Burrow every night, surrounding himself in a family that he thought he could never have. Ron had joined the Chudley Canons and toured round the world playing Quidditch, forgetting about the war through sport and numerous fan girls. Forgetting about Hermione. They left her with no one to talk to, no one to help her heal. So she came to me.

At first it was just sex. Would you have turned that down if you were me? It was passionate and crazy and the best shags of my life, but somehow, I still wasn't satisfied. I was dying to know why she came to me, why me? Surely she should be married to Weasley with eighteen children and be the Minister of Magic by now. She wouldn't talk to me. She had rules. Boundaries. We would meet in a hotel, have sex and go home. That was that. She wouldn't talk, she wouldn't stay, she barely let me kiss her. That's what confused me. We were doing anything and everything, but she wouldn't let me kiss her. I was dying to feel if her lips were just as soft as they looked. I let her be, and I didn't push her, I didn't want to ruin such a good thing.

I hadn't realised how badly she had been affected by the war. She wouldn't talk about it. Wouldn't mention anyone who'd been involved or anyone who had died. She refused, and if there was one thing that I remembered about her from Hogwarts was that she was stubborn. There was no way I could get to her talk unless she wanted to. All I could do was wait until there was a time that she would trust me enough to open up to me. To realise I could help her.

Sometimes I think that Hermione tried to punish herself by being with me, I was a constant reminder of the past. I mean, we were hardly best of friends in our school days. She was using me, we both knew it, and for some reason I let her. I think that maybe I was trying to gain her forgiveness for my past. She could be my saviour and I could be hers. Our history joined us.

When I thought I was falling in love with her I almost ended things. I was too keen for our infrequent meetings, I wanted to tell her about my day, not just do it and leave. I wanted to talk to her, learn about her- her passions, her beliefs, her goals. Of course it helped that she was gorgeous. I started thinking of her more frequently. I would see an attractive woman walking down the street and think, "If only she was a little bit shorter" or "I wish her hair was a little bit curlier" or even just, "she's not like Hermione". That's when I knew I was in trouble. But I accepted it and I accepted her. And decided to make her fall in love with me.

I slowly started lying in bed after one of our sessions, try and hold her, or start a conversation. I would bring her flowers, or tell her just how beautiful I really thought she was. At first she thought I was taking the piss. But I persevered, I asked her to come and get coffee with me, to go to dinner, for a walk in the park. Every time she politely declined and be on her way. But every time she left with a shy smile on her face, and I knew that I would never stop asking her, that I would keep on seeing her and making her smile a beautiful smile every day until she loved me.

One day while she was leaving, she turned around and said, "Draco, I might feel like dinner next week". I felt like I was on cloud nine. She was going to dinner with me. And then I started to panic…

I don't think she knows how much effort I actually took into making our first date absolutely perfect. I couldn't risk letting her go after one evening. I booked out the whole restaurant to make sure it would be private, I played her favourite music in the background and I even put white lilies- her favourite flowers- on the table. She beautiful when she came, she probably thought I was just being dramatic but she really did, she wore a soft white summer dress which fell to her knees and she looked so pure and innocent that it was all I could do to make it to the end of dinner without dragging out of the restaurant and to my flat.

Of course our conversations were perfect. She really didn't know how well we would get along but I did. We have the same interests and tastes but both don't mind a bit of a battle. Hermione thought that she needed someone to boss around and make her forget, but she didn't. She needed someone to talk to about everything and nothing. We didn't talk about the war that night, it was too soon, but even when she started talking about Remus and Tonks, I knew she'd be alright.

I didn't want to push her too far. It had taken so much effort just to get her there. I dropped her home with a small kiss goodbye. She was small and fragile in my arms, like she would break at any moment.

I was terrified when Hermione told me that we should tell Harry and Ron about us. She made me stand there and try and look like a nice guy while all I could see were their faces slowly but surely turning angrier and angrier with every word she said. She thought they were fine. They didn't see the next day when they came to my flat -Merlin knows how they found it- and they threatened me a wand point till I assured them that this was a long term agreement, at least for me anyway.

I knew I wanted to marry her after about a month of dating. I stayed at her apartment almost every night and slowly began to keep my own possessions there, a toothbrush, a razor, a few old t-shirts that Hermione loved to use as pyjamas. Harry and Ron seemed to come closer to Hermione when they realized that we were serious. Maybe it was to try and protect her, or maybe to make sure I remembered their threats, but either way, I saw firsthand the way their friendship came back together, just like I had told her it would.

I told you before that the media were constantly changing my story. Well, that didn't change when they found out about me and Hermione. There were ridiculous headlines, "Death Eater slips Golden Girl a love potion" or, "The Star-crossed lovers". Well Hermione were and are private people. We were too boring, too_ normal_ for people to be interested in us any more. We aren't the type of couple to be caught up in a heated moment in the streets; we've had enough of the newspapers to last a lifetime and we won't be caught up in a scandal yet again.

Of course we argue… a lot. But that was bound to happen, wasn't it? Sure we balance each other well, but we have opposing views on almost everything. I think that's why we're so good together. We can argue and fight over stupid little things, but when it comes to something important we will always come together.

I think she was surprised by how quickly I got to know her. I was too really. But she's just so easy for me to read. She'll get that panicked, stricken look on her face when she needs a break from her work, or that irritated wrinkle between her brow when she just wants me to leave her alone. But I don't let her get away with everything. That was what the problem was with Harry and Ron I think. They let her be the boss and went along with everything she said. I share my opinions, let her see my view, consider what it's like from the polar opposite side.

We're a good couple. Better than she thought we would be, even better than what I thought we would be. We look good together, she's just the right height that she has to stand on her toes to kiss me, and is soft in all the right places and we just… fit. Like puzzle pieces. Draco and Hermione, it has a ring to it, doesn't it?

People ask me if I would change anything about the past. They expect to hear a great speech about changing who I was, about never following my father or the Dark Lord. They're surprised when I just shake my head. If I could go back, erase what I've done, make myself a better person, would I be the person I am today? If I had never made any mistakes, how would I be able to show how much I've grown? The past is the past, and since we can't change it, we should just move on.

Our story wasn't an easy boy-meets-girl. It never could have been. I've worked my butt off to get her and now I'm working even harder to keep her. But it's her and it's crazy and it's perfect.

I do get looks on the street, but mostly, it's not from the people who run away or sneer. They're smiles and nods from people who know who I am, what I've done, but also how I've changed. They see me walking hand in hand with Hermione and they wave or shout out a greeting, and now, finally, they don't take me by surprise.


End file.
